Yes, that would be handy!
I mostly use my Hakko Presto and only on some tight positions I had to use my fine tipped made in china CT soldering station. You need steady hands, sharp eye sight and lots of patience!

The difference in SQ of using discreet compos are quite pronounced (we never tried out better SMDs). The 4 pcs of 20K input resistors actually increased overall resolution and clarity of the T-amp further. As for the rests of 0.47uF and 0.1uF caps, Jazzy wrote a review immediately after he completed his stage 1 mods; try finding it in the Ver 1 thread. During our 1st T-amp t/t, I believe most of us who heard actually like SQ of Jazzy’s T-amp with discreet compos, so question of reverting back to SMDs never arise. We didn't hear noises; the discreet compos are slightly more colourful and dirty-sounding just like using a discreet attenuator over carbon volume pot.

Main problem is with desoldering out the SMDs and soldering in the discrete compos. Try to keep the legs as short as possible and use a 15W fine tip Eltax soldering iron. I finally got one myself but as I need to be out of town this weekend, no fiddling with my 3rd T-amp until next week or so.

I would agree with Y.C.
The 20K input resistor replacement make one hell of a difference! and listening is believing!

One warning though.. careful with your desoldering pump! The tracks are so small/thin, if you're not careful, you may suck it out with your pump.. someone suggested a desoldering braid which I think would tremendously helps in this situation. A Pro's Kit solderwick, 2.5mm wide, 1.5 meter long would costs RM3.50 if I am not mistaken.

Y.C, you got a 3rd T-Amp to work on?! Good for you!

This post has been edited by jazzy939: Nov 29 2008, 09:34 AM


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What exactly did you replace it with, different value, no?

using my spare t-amp to practice soldering out SMD, so far so good it takes my clumsy hand 10 sec average to remove each 20K smd resistor...

however to solder in new ones..... might not be that smooth

i was thinking if can use 0.1% metal film resistors? wouldn't it be better?

This post has been edited by Monkey King: Nov 29 2008, 11:25 AM

I use exactly the same what Y.C is using: Vishay BC 1% tolerence metal film resistors.

Monkey King, 0.1% might be an overkill as the temperature rise of the amp is kinda small, so personally I do not expect the resistance to drift so much, so a 1% tolerance would be sufficient.

However do not stop yourself if you wanna use a 0.1%.. it would be interesting to know if it does 'improve' the sound, yes?

well i cant really tell how much it improves since i never tried the 1% yet... anyway...most 1% are quite cheap... 1/4W type would be sufficient eh? hehe

now i have an excuse to use my another t-amp to replace my car amp...

i furbared the car amp when trying to change the op amps... damn 2 layer PCB... too lazy to figure out where is the problem now..declare RIP...

well my question is, direct connect V+ to battery positive (with a fuse of course) and GND directly to ' - ' post of battery.

would this t-amp drain away the battery juice over time via such connection? since the board dosent have place for me to connect REM+

plan to use it to drive dual 6 x 9 at rear

This post has been edited by Monkey King: Nov 29 2008, 12:32 PM

Monkey King,
The amp would drain few milliamps, still why waste when you can put a power switch, right? If your head unit has a REM+, use it then direct or via a relay.

xtorm should be able to answer this as I have not use it in my car, but I don't see any problem the T-Amp driving a pair of dual 6X9 speakers. 4 ohms, right?

well yeah, now i guess i would use a switch for it till i can find a relay circuit for it....

sorry guys for the late update, been away for few days

yes it can drive your 6x9, as in how loud i have no idea. a 12v direct with an on\off switch is enough, if you tot off using the rem+, a relay can be use, REM+ have enough power to trigger a relay, tht was wat i did with my friend car amp but watch out for aeroplane sound

yo bro, thanks for the reply... i doubt any aeroplane sound would occur as long as you have proper grounding back to battery ' - ' terminal.

well, if im not mistaken, the battery voltage would fluctuate due to inconsistent load? (A/C, headlights , etc...) do we need to construct a voltage regulator for it? say LM7812 equivalent..?

if the t amp project in car is successful, might get another 2 units to power up the components. all using Pre-out, ditch the build in amp of HU. Forget about spending few hundred bucks on fancy car amps..

mind share the relay circuit? coz its kinda hard for me to goggle for right one..

No relay circuit necessary. Just buy the 12V relay for the car and wire accordingly. 5 bucks only I think..

Anyway bought two 50K pot from NIXIE today.. we'll see how long will it lasts! RM2.50 ea.

This post has been edited by jazzy939: Nov 29 2008, 10:56 PM

Been a while since I done something to my T-Amp. I use Senior discreet amp, now the soundstage is very wide and unbelievably deep, before this everything is in your face, like if you hear artists performs on stage, all the instruments is at the same level as the singer, now everything sits where it supposed to be, and even layers of vocal is prominent, my favorite artists love to use her whisper vocal behind her singing vocal, now I can hear that without any trouble

Another mod I done is using separate power from my PC PSU because when I game, I hear some noise because of my graphics card emit strange high frequency noise to the power line (its normal, as I read around, some components on graphics card emit that, forgot what it is called), I found one old 450W PSU lying around, I open it up, replaced few capacitor with higher quality and jumpstart it to power T-Amp. 15Amps of current available to the T-Amp only. I don't know if that sufficient enough to give boom to it Because the load is so low, I run it totally passive. How does it sounds? Wonderful

It's s'wonderful!

I tried swap the T amp power supply from the Teletron 12V 3A unregulated to Generic PC PSU (i suppose this is also another SMPS as well) since i heard there is a lot of good response using SMPS.

part of the reason also i'm worried that constant 16V supply (measured with DMM) from the teletron might kill the T amp someday.

however, much to my surprise, the t amp DOES NOT LIKE PC PSU.

when i switch on, there is 'noise' yes noise like you heard when your radio reception is bad.. even w/o playing any songs..

quicky disconnect it, tried with few other PSU like Enlight, Acbel... same result...

Unregulated PSU's voltage is always higher when measured with no loads...

My Junior is using a PC PSU.. no big deal.. what happened to your T-Amp?

good morning bro jazzy...

i just did some minor mod to my teletron unregulated..

and well the measured 16V is obtained when the t amp is connected to the supply, with music playing..


oh about the mod...

i paralleled one of this cap at the output of the power supply, to my delight, there is much improvement in term of sonics.

more depth, warm vocal...


i may plan to have 3 t-amps with different mod level (and a comparison of course)

1: high end, putting the best replacement component for the amp, with primary objective of maximizing the SQ. (Boutique input caps 2-3% tol, tighther tolerance components, replace almost all the components on board, left out only the TA2024 itself) of course the parts are the best that i can possibly afford.

2. Mid range: the one i have now ... Vishay MKT1813 input, SMD caps replacement with polyester caps (i've ordered 50 pcs of KEMET 0.1uF polyester 5% from farnell....dirt cheap, 1% Metal Film resistors. i have lots of 104 Mylar caps to replace..

3. Base Line: almost stock, maybe just remove the polarized 1uF or replace with anything i can salvage.


all 3 will feed by same power supply, driving same speakers

what do you think

This post has been edited by Monkey King: Nov 30 2008, 08:22 AM

Morning Monkey King!
Big plans there! I'd say its a good learning experience modding the T-Amps, tuning/tweaking and how each one of the mods affect the sound output. Some very significant, some barely. You won't know until you do it hands on!
Keep us posted. Good luck and have fun!

aha yeah actually i'm planning to get few more t amps, for car, and maybe a good idea for father's day present too... (ready built of course)

since tripath no longer produce any of these chip, i do worrythis t amp might extinct like black gates caps someday...

You better get them while they're available!

But there are other amps around.
The TA2024 was raved for the 'best bang per buck' it presents..

So little money, so much 'sound'...

This post has been edited by jazzy939: Nov 30 2008, 08:54 AM